5th Dec 2025 07:56
(Alliance News) - BAT has generated GBP315 million in proceeds from the sale of shares in an investee, Unilever's ice cream arm is to debut on the stock exchange next week, while Ocado is to receive a one-off payment from partner Kroger which last month announced warehouse closures.
Here is what you need to know before the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: called up just 3.0 points at 9,713.87
GBP: higher at USD1.3360 (USD1.3353 at previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS
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UK house prices were largely steady on-month in November, while an annual rise slowed, Halifax says. House prices barely budged on-month in November, with the average price inching up to a record high of GBP299,892 from GBP299,754 in October. Annual house price growth abated to 0.7% in November from 1.9% in October. It is the weakest annual rise since March 2024, Halifax says. "While slower growth may disappoint some existing homeowners, it's welcome news for first-time buyers. Comparing property prices to average incomes, affordability is now at its strongest since late 2015. Taking into account today's higher interest rates, mortgage costs as a share of income are at their lowest level in around three years," Halifax analyst Amanda Bryden says.
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BROKER RATINGS
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Morgan Stanley cuts Mony Group to 'equal-weight' - price target 220 pence
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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British American Tobacco says it has netted GBP315 million from the sale of 187.5 million shares in ITC Hotels. The maker of cigarette and vaping products says the share sold in a block trade transaction represent 9% of the issued share capital of ITC Hotels. BAT now holds a 6.3% stake in ITC Hotels. BAT had held 15.3% of ITC Hotels since its demerger from ITC Ltd, a Kolkata-based conglomerate with businesses across India's consumer goods sector. ITC Hotels has been trading as a publicly-listed entity since January this year.
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Consumer goods firm Unilever says the demerger of its ice cream offering will complete on Saturday, with trading of shares in Amsterdam, London and New York to begin on Monday. Unilever expects that a consolidation of its own shares, shortly after the demerger of Magnum Ice Cream Co, will take place. Back in October, Unilever said the demerger was delayed by a US federal government shutdown.
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Relx announces plans for a new share buyback, as a current programme ends. The London-based provider of business, scientific and legal information says it plans to buyback GBP250 million from the start of next month until early February, before it announces annual results on February 12. "The purpose of the programme is to reduce the capital of the company and it intends that shares purchased will be held in treasury," Relx says. It has completed its 2025 buyback, which it saw it repurchase 39.5 million shares at GBP1.5 billion in total.
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Safety products manufacturer Halma has struck a cash deal to acquire E2S Group for GBP230 million. E2S makes detection devices used in highly hazardous environments. "E2S products are crucial for alerting personnel to potential dangers enabling a quick response and enhancing safety. It operates in various end markets including oil and gas, renewable energy power and manufacturing, where safety solutions are highly regulated given the severity of potential hazards," Halma adds. "The acquisition supports a continued expansion into fire detection and alarm systems and E2S will sit within Halma's safety sector."
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Blackstone confirms it does not plan to make an offer for self-storage firm Big Yellow. Big Yellow on Thursday had said talks with a Blackstone unit over a possible bid had ended. The Bagshot, Surrey-based self-storage site operator said Blackstone Europe, part of New York-based private equity investment manager, had updated the company on the status and valuation level of a possible offer. Big Yellow said after consideration it has concluded that there is no basis for continuing discussions with Blackstone, adding the put-up or shut-up deadline of December 8 will not be extended.
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Ocado is to receive a USD350 million cash payment from Cincinnati, Ohio-based retail company Kroger after an announcement that three customer fulfilment centres will be closed, with plans for another planned for next year not proceeding. "This payment reflects Kroger's decision to close three CFCs in January 2026, as well as a decision by Kroger not to proceed with Charlotte, one of the two planned CFCs due to go-live in 2026," the grocer and warehouse technology firm says. Ocado and Kroger struck a deal back in 2018, when they had agreed to build customer fulfilment centres, known as CFCs, where automated robots sort orders. Kroger announced in November that it will close three CFCs in Frederick, Pleasant Prairie and Groveland. Frederick is in Maryland, Pleasant Prairie in Wisconsin and Groveland is in Florida. Ocado Chief Executive Officer Tim Steiner says Friday: "We continue to invest significant resources to support our partners at Kroger, and to help them build on our longstanding partnership. Ocado's technology has evolved significantly to include both the new technologies that Kroger is currently deploying in its CFC network, as well as new fulfilment products that bring Ocado's technology to a wider range of applications, including Store Based Automation to support 'pick up' and immediacy."
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OTHER COMPANIES
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BHP says the Federal Court of Australia has approved a settlement linked to the Brazilian dam collapse. In September, the Melbourne, Australia-based diversified mining company agreed to settle the Australian shareholder class action over the Samarco Mineracao joint venture in Brazil for AUD110 million, or USD72 million. BHP says it expects to recover the majority of the Australian settlement amount from its insurers. On Wednesday, the High Court in London rejected BHP's application that sought to block the latest move by class action firm Pogust Goodhead in ongoing litigation over the 2015 Fundao dam collapse. The English High Court last month found BHP liable for the 2015 Fundao dam disaster, following a five-month first stage trial of the UK group action.
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Flooring firm James Halstead says trading has been mixed as it approaches the end of its first half. Revenue in the UK and North America has "remained robust", though it has seen continued "challenges" within the Central European and Asia Pacific regions. "We continue to monitor and control costs to mitigate the effect of these challenges," it says. James Halstead's half-year concludes at the end of December.
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Mayflower Acquisition will debut on the London Stock Exchange on Friday, after raising USD500.0 million to help go towards acquiring a "target company or business". "There is no specific expected target value for the acquisition and the company expects that any funds not used for the acquisition will be used for future acquisitions, internal or external growth and expansion, purchase of outstanding debt and/or working capital in relation to the acquired company or business," Mayflower says. The company was founded by Noam Gottesman, Jeremy Isaacs and Roger Nagioff. Conditional dealings of shares on the Main Market kick off on Friday, before unconditional dealings on Wednesday.
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By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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Related Shares:
Moneysupermarket.ComBritish American TobaccoUnileverRelxHalmaBig YellowOcadoJames HalsteadBHP GroupMayflower (wi)